


With love comes a great waterfall

by lillaseptember



Series: There's no greater gift than love [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Reunions, The Hidden World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 13:24:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18638983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillaseptember/pseuds/lillaseptember
Summary: Gran quickly rapped her across the nose, like she had done when Zephyr was still just a little girl. “You wipe that frown off of your face, Zephyr Haddock. It’s not becoming of a Chief to cry over a life well lived."





	With love comes a great waterfall

**Author's Note:**

> I love Valka. I really, really do. And I really tried to work her into _Steady throne_ (and she _did_ manage to slip into more silent cameos than I had originally planned), but I just never found a way that worked and felt right. So here, have this little outtake instead.
> 
> You don’t necessarily have to read _Steady throne_ before you read this, but there are some minor details that are anchored there that may make more sense if you did. But you do you. I support that too.

There were no dragons waiting for them on the rocky cliffs leading into the Hidden World.

Man had only ventured into the land of dragons once in recorded history, which had occurred during the height of summer, during which its temperate had been moderate to balmy. There was no way of telling what kind of climate the Hidden World kept in the long term, but if it was even just the tiniest bit warmer than the biting chill of Man’s world above, then there was no wonder that they hid.

Their ship swayed in its endeavour of trying to keep itself steady against the pull of the water, and Zephyr knew that she would only get one shot at this. Nuffink cursed lowly somewhere behind her as the ship gave one more violent lurch as it fought against the stream, and Zephyr knew that was her cue.

Allowing herself to only take a breath to steel herself, she jumped over the gunwale and landed as safely as she could on the uneven and narrow rocks ahead of them. Turning around again as quickly as she dared, she then grabbed a hold of the ship’s stern and pushed it as hard as she was capable of, sending it out into the open sea again.

Trusting her brother to keep her steady.

Feeling the draft of the massive waterfall at her back, and hearing nothing else but the deafening roar of it, she slowly turned around to face it. Trying not to be overwhelmed by the sheer _size_ of it and being careful of where she placed her feet on the wet rock, she forced herself to be calm and steady, so as to not be dragged into the rushing water and into its endless depths below. Because even if she would survive the fall, she would have no way of getting out again.

As much as she loved dragons, she was quite fond of Man’s world too.

Inching closer to the fall only in order to grab a hold of one of the cliffs that jutted up from it in order to steady herself, she was suddenly forced to face just how idiotic this idea had been. This was why dad was not supposed to leave her unsupervised.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_. So she had gotten them to the Hidden World, but there were no dragons waiting for them, so now what? It wasn’t like she could just _knock_ -

A familiar pair of blue eyes suddenly stared up at her.

“Hey, boy,” she whispered as she held out her hand towards the dragon that had just peeked out from behind the cliff. The dragon growled low in his belly as he inspected her with slitted eyes, but Zephyr just continued to hold her hand still, allowing the dragon to get a scent of her. And surely enough, the thin slits of suspicion quickly widened with recognition, and Zephyr’s hand was soon covered in Night Light slobber. “No, no, Spots, no, down boy, I’m not here to play.”

Spots quickly retreated, his ears flattening down along his head with those blue eyes staring up at her with a confused expression. (And yes, Zephyr may have named a spotted dragon Spots, but she had also been 7 and been quite overwhelmed at the time. Her dad had also named the feared Night Fury, King of all dragons, _Toothless_ though, so.) Zephyr kneeled down on the wet rock, instantly feeling a little more at ease with a dragon by her side, and returned the slobber favor by scratching the Night Light between his eyes.

Spots hummed low in approval, but cocked his head to the side in continued confusion. If she hadn’t come to play, then what _had_ she come for?

Zephyr tried to swallow down the lump in her throat that had been her constant companion the last couple of weeks.

“Will you,” she started, her voice breaking. Running her hands over Spot’s smooth scales, she allowed his presence to fortify her. “Will you get Cloudjumper for us? It’s- It’s gran.”

Spots cocked his head to the other side, his eyes narrowing as he thought. Zephyr ran her hands down the sides of his face, digging her nails below the scales behind his jaw, willing him to understand. “Cloudjumper?”

Spots thought for another few seconds, before he suddenly perked up, his tail swooshing and his ears flapping. He quickly licked Zephyr’s cheek, and then he had taken off up into the air, only to swiftly dive down into the opening of the Hidden World again.

“Good boy!” she called after him, daring to lean just a little bit over the roaring waterfall.

Turning around to face the sea again, realizing just how destitute her situation on the rocks were once she was all alone again, she gestured that their mission was halfway to being a success.

The wait for Spots to return was torturously slow, with nothing but the rush of the waterfall to keep her company. Spots was a smart dragon, but he had never been used to following human commands the way his father had, so there were really no assurances that he would return, or _what_ he would return with if he did.

Still Nuffink brought the ship closer again, daring to come closer than when Zephyr had first disembarked, having that unwavering faith that they had always had in their friend. And then they helped each other getting their grandmother safely onto the wet cliffs beneath them.

Nuffink had found a way to somehow secure the ship against the cliffs, resisting the constant pull of the water. It was still far from a steady docking though, the ship groaning and shuddering against the sharp edges of the rock. 

Nuffink who always prided himself on never abusing a ship the way Zephyr did.

“Gran, careful,” Zephyr warned as she grabbed a firmer hold of her gran’s arm, steadying her just before she was about to slip on a patch of wet rock. Nuffink had reached out from where he was still standing on the gunwale, securing her stance from behind.

Gran just tutted as she found her footing again. “Oh, would you two stop fussing. What do I got to live for?”

Zephyr exchanged a quick look with her brother, needing the reminder that she wasn’t the only one who felt so… Helpless. She had not yet gotten used to the way gran had just accepted this all, and so quickly.

But gran quickly rapped her across the nose, like she had done when Zephyr was still just a little girl. “You wipe that frown off of your face, Zephyr Haddock. It’s not becoming of a Chief to cry over a life well lived.”

Zephyr accepted that as the reprimand it was, and once again tried to swallow down the persistent lump in her throat. “Yes, ma’am.”

Gran just smiled at her, before squeezing the hand she had wrapped over Zephyr’s shoulders a little tighter. “It’s okay, m’girl.”

Zephyr wasn’t really sure what that was really referring to, would probably not know how to reply even if she did anyway, and just focused on getting them safely onto the scraggly cliffs instead. Gran’s staff rattled against the rocks as they slowly made their way to the middle of the cliff, as safe as they could come from both the depths of the ocean and the height of the waterfall.

Spots’ head suddenly popped up over the cliff side again by the time Zephyr had made sure that gran was standing steadily, grinning proudly at them. Because surely enough, not long after he was followed by the sharp orange edges of a long and long lost friend.

Cloudjumper took his time rising over the edge, inspecting gran with old, wise eyes as he did. And those were definitely tears in gran’s own eyes as she watched him rise.

“Hello, you vicious beast.”

Gran let go of Zephyr after that. Suddenly moving faster than Zephyr thought her still capable of, she hobbled her way to the edge of the cliff before Zephyr had the chance to halt her, her staff rattling along until it hit one of Cloudjumper’s feet. Cloudjumper was quick to support her withering posture, and gran molded herself to him like she had spent her entire life doing nothing else.

Cloudjumper gave out a high-pitched, appreciative sound, and gran laughed as brightly as Zephyr had not heard in years.

Cloudjumper also flapped his tail and wriggled slightly under gran’s touch, causing her to laugh impossibly brighter.

“Oh, no, no, no, these poor bones are far too old to fly by now, my friend,” she said as she stroked him over his sharp nose. “I just wanted to see you one last time.”

Cloudjumper tilted his head in puzzlement, but gran just continued to smile that appeasing smile of hers, running her hands over his sharp features. “Oh, I’ve got so much to tell you. I’ve got more little ones on the way, three of them this time!” she said, and even from a distance Zephyr could see that her eyes shone with that proud light that they always did while on this certain topic.

It had felt a little weird, heading off to the Hidden World without their parents. But dad was halfway across the world, on one of Zephyr’s consular journeys, and wasn’t set to be back for at least another two weeks. And mom had volunteered to stay back on Berk with the very, very pregnant Inga. Li-Lee had declared that she was carrying triplets, and if there was one thing that they were all certain of, it was that there was definitely more than just one Hooligan kicking around in that big belly of hers.

Nuffink had been torn between not wanting to leave his wife’s side and the fact that they would most likely never succeed in their mission of getting gran to the Hidden World in the middle of the frost without their most experienced sailor. In the end the inescapable reality that gran would most likely not hang on long enough to see the triplets’ birth anyway had decided the conflict for him.

“You’ll look after them for me, won’t you?” gran whispered in a voice low enough that Zephyr felt it hadn’t been meant for her ears, her hands settling along Cloudjumper’s wide jaw.

Turning around, careful not to trip over her own feet or the wet rock, she retreated as far as she was able to the other side of the cliff. Letting them have their moment that they both deserved.

Spots was quick in attaching himself to her side again, and Zephyr was glad for his comforting presence, busying herself with scratching him behind the ears as she watched Nuffink struggle to find a way to steady the boat against the cliffs. They shared the same strain of obstinacy though, and she had no doubt that just given enough time he would find a way to succeed. 

Her babe brother was just 27 years old, but he would most likely be able to challenge Njord himself for the title of master of the seas, and probably have a chance of coming out of it as champion.

Spots had flopped onto his back, obviously demanding to be scratched on his big, round, and white belly, and Zephyr had never been able to deny him much of anything, when she was suddenly surprised at the light nudge on her left shoulder. Turning around, she was less surprised to find a pair of bright and intelligent eyes staring at her.

She smiled as she reached out to rest her hand on his snout. “Sorry Toothless, no dad this time. This was- Kind of last minute.”

Toothless’ round green eyes shifted to the other edge of the cliff, to where gran and Cloudjumper were seemingly just holding each other by now. He made a hurmping, questioning sound, and Zephyr felt her heart contract. “Yeah, she. She doesn’t have long left.”

Toothless nudged at her hand, and then up the length of her arm, and Zephyr allowed him to wrap it around his neck. She was grateful for his comforting warmth. “But it’s okay. She’s going to see grandpa.”

Wrapping herself tighter around Toothless, burrowing her face in his smooth, wam scales, she forced herself to breathe deeply. Gran was right. There was no point in crying for a life well lived.

Holding onto Toothless until her breathing steadied, and until her eyes weren’t stinging so harshly, she squeezed him one last time before sniffing and straightening. 

“But speaking of grandpa,” she said, unable to keep herself from smiling as she turned to where Nuffink had just lifted Stoick down onto the uneven rocks and quickly climbed out after him, leaving the ship in his shipmates perfectly capable hands now that the ship was resting stubbornly against the cliffs. “Stoick!” she called, gesturing to the little boy clutching onto his dad’s hand.

Toothless made another hurmping, questioning sound from deep in his belly, sounding a little more panicked and a lot more confused this time around. Zephyr just smiled at him, and patted him on the side one last time before she pushed herself up onto her feet again in order to walk over and crouch down to her nephew’s level.

“C’mon, Stoick, it’s okay.”

Stoick cast a frightened look up at his dad, but didn’t seem reassured when Nuffink just smiled down at him and urged him on. Zephyr let him take his time walking over to her, and he threw his tiny little arms around her neck as soon as he came close enough, wanting her to shield him from the hunkering beast behind them.

Zephyr hugged him tight, but rose to her full height as soon as he’d stopped shivering. Walking over to Toothless again, she let him hide in the crook of her neck, and ran her hand over the back of his head.

“Stoick, this is Toothless. Remember Toothless? Like grandpa used to tell you about?”

Stoick peeked out of his hiding spot only long enough to get a fleeting glance of the big black bulk in front of them, and then promptly disappeared behind the curtain of her hair again. Toothless cocked his head to the side as he watched them, and Zephyr had to resist the urge to laugh.

“It’s okay, Stoick, remember? The dragons are our friends.” The little boy made a sound against her neck that sounded an awful a lot like he didn’t believe her. This time Zephyr did laugh. Prying the tiny little fingers away from her neck, she nudged at him for long enough that he eventually turned half an eye in Toothless’ direction. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you. I promise.

“Just hold your hand out like this,” she instructed him, like her dad had done so many years before. “And then you let him come to you.”

She could tell Stoick was scared, she would probably even say terrified; she could feel his little heart hammering away against her shoulder. But Zephyr could also remember the fear of meeting Toothless, The Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself, for the first time, and how all that fear had been worth it in the end.

They were Haddocks, and they didn’t let fear rule their lives.

Toothless’ eyes skipped in between her and Stoick a few times, obviously confused. But he could probably still tell that he was a Haddock, and all Haddocks were friends after all, and in the end he didn’t hesitate before placing his nose in Stoick’s tiny palm.

Stoick gasped once he felt the warm scales under his fingers, his head immediately whipping out from where it had been hiding in Zephyr’s neck. And Zephyr could only grin at the way he demanded to be able to pet the big “dagon” again.

Haddocks were friends indeed, but they also had a bit of an obsession.

Zephyr instructed him how to be careful, constantly vigilant of the edge of the cliff and the long drop below, but it wasn’t long before the toddler was shrieking in delight as he hung from the feared Night Fury’s ears. Toothless didn’t seem to mind though, and just gave Nuffink a curious look as he walked over.

Nuffink smiled as he reached out to pry tiny and insistent fingers from his old friend, making sure to give him a scratch for his troubles. “Hey, bud.”

Toothless made that hurmping, questioning sound again, this time with a significant look down at Stoick. Nuffink barely had time to pry his fingers away from Toothless’ ears and put him down on his feet again before he had found a way to poke and tug interestedly at the leathery wings folded against Toothless’ side. He was barely any younger than Nuffink himself had been when he had first met Toothless.

“Yeah,” Nuffink said, smiling wider, cupping his hands around Toothless’ face. “Yeah, he’s mine. Time really flies, huh?”

Toothless made a sound that sounded like he agreed, and Zephyr smiled as Spots shuffled his way under her hand again, demanding the attention she had neglected him for far too long.

Stoick was a curious mixture of his many heritages; he had his grandmother’s nose, and the dark mop of hair of his mom. But he had inherited his dad’s and aunt’s and grandfather’s lopsided grin, and his eyes were slowly paling into the famed Haddock green.

And Toothless was studying him intently as Nuffink showed him how to properly scratch the King of Dragons under his chin.

“We’ll come back in the summer,” Nuffink said to the dragon humming in contentment. “And bring dad with us.”

Toothless’ eyes drifted off gran and Cloudjumper again, before he made a sad sound and bumped his snout into Stoick’s head, much to the little boy’s delight. Nuffink just smiled, and scratched him between the ears again. “She’ll be fine.”

As if on cue, that was when the old dragon rider in question finally released her steady hold of her dragon. The Stormcutter didn’t seem pleased with the prospect of being left alone again at all, his head hanging low, but he slowly backed away as his rider started hobbling her way over to them.

“Well, that’s it darlings! Time to go!”

“Gran!” Zephyr called, her fingers dug deep under Spots’ scales. “We can stay a little longer!”

“Oh, no, no, no,” gran called back, making her way to the ship, as if she would be able to make it back in unassisted. If Zephyr and her brother had inherited their obstinate streak from where she thought they had, then she probably would, one way or another. “No need for that now!”

And looking over at Cloudjumper, with his head hung low and with his large, wise eyes looking after his rider the way Zephyr imagined someone looked after a long lost love, it also looked like closure.

Leaning down to rest her forehead against Spots’ own, she couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped her lips. She had learnt at a very young age that there was never any use arguing with her gran. “Goodbye, for now.”

Nuffink smiled, but it was with that sad glint in his eyes that he always got, as he rose and hitched Stoick up onto his hip. “We’ll be back with dad in the summer, don’t you worry, big guy.”

“Dagon,” Stoick said, flapping his hand so fiercely that his dad had to bend down to let him pet Toothless one final time.

“We’ll see them again,” Nuffink promised, and pressed a kiss to his son’s temple once he started to whine. Scratching Toothless between the ears one last time, he then hurried over to the edge of the cliff and to where their gran was currently trying to hop into the ship despite her bad legs, all while trying to soothe a crying toddler.

Zephyr watched them as Nuffink handed over Stoick to one of the shipmates in order to assist gran instead, and then turned back to the other set of father and son. Scratching them both behind the ears, she leaned down to kiss Toothless’ cheek. “We will be back with dad in the summer. I promise.”

Toothless made an appreciative sound and Spots licked her hand in farewell, and with that Zephyr set after her wayward family.

* * *

Most of them had been keeping vigil for several days. Inga had been forced to excuse herself, the delivery creeping closer with every hour that passed. Li-Lee had set up a semi-permanent camp of sorts among the Haddocks’, keeping an eye on both the life that was about to flicker out, and the lives just about to catch aflame.

It had been weird, standing on the threshold of life and death. Zephyr was glad that she had been surrounded by her family; her mom’s steady hand nestled into her own, her brother’s comforting warmth against her side, the soothing rhythm of her nephew’s snoring the little time she allowed herself to rest. The reminder that, as fickle and unpredictable as life could be, there were still some things as steady as the heartbeat in her own chest.

Gran had slept through most of it, her breathing shallow but persistent. She hadn’t been out of bed for over a week now, and had lost the strength to eat some days ago. Li-Lee had said that it was a miracle that she hadn’t moved on already, that the Norns hadn’t swept her away. She should have known that it took more than that before a Haddock gave up their right to define their own fate.

Dad was set to return any day now, and Zephyr would be damned if gran passed on without getting to say her most important goodbye.

It had been late on Thor’s day, Nuffink having just returned from putting Stoick to bed and checking up on Inga, Zephyr half asleep against her mom’s side, when there was a distinct set of footsteps on the staircase. Zephyr barely had time to blink herself into awareness before the heavy thunk of both leather and metal had made its way into the bedroom.

“Mom?”

There were already tears threatening to spill over her dad’s eyes, and his hair was even more unruly than it usually was. His chest was heaving, and Zephyr couldn’t tell if it was from the exertion of having run across the village to get to them as quickly as possible, or from something else entirely.

“Oh, don’t you worry about me, Hiccup,” gran said, like she always had, and Zephyr couldn’t remember if she had been awake of if she had woken up simply by the unconscious knowledge of her son’s presence. Gran reached a shaking hand out to him, and dad immediately walked over to clutch onto it, slowly sinking down on the stool next to her bed. “It was about time that I went to visit your father.”

Zephyr couldn’t tell what kind of reaction her dad had to that, seeing how he hid his face by pressing it into gran’s hand and how he stayed hidden there for a long time. After having inhaled deeply, and pressed a quick kiss to the back the hand he was holding, he finally looked up at her again. And it was with a shaking but sincere, oh so sincere, smile. “Tell him hi from me.”

Gran’s smile in turn was secure and steady, but she ran a weak thumb over his knuckles. “He’s going to be so proud of you,” she said, squeezing dad’s hand as tightly as she was capable of. Then she shifted her gaze to the rest of them hiding in the shadows. “Of all of you.”

Mom’s arm wrapped tighter around Zephyr’s shoulders, and Nuffink’s head came to rest against her knees, and she smiled at her gran as brightly as she knew how. The corners of gran’s eyes wrinkled before they closed, her content smile staying stubbornly on her lips.

Dad held gran’s hand all the way to her last breath.

“May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin’s great battlefield.”

She had been placed in one of Zephyr’s old banged up boats. She had her staff in hand, like she had wished, and her old warrior’s mask had been placed on top of her pyre. The whole village had gathered to see her slow descent into the rocky waves below, to wish her safe travels.

It had been a funeral worthy of a former Chieftess; of a hero and a matriarch.

Dad had nocked the first arrow, as Zephyr knew he had also done so many years ago, when they had all been forced to bid farewell to grandpa. His aim had been as unwavering as his voice as he’d proclaimed gran’s final ode, and as soon as they’d seen his projectile take hold, it had been followed by a volley of others, the ship they had released to the sea quickly caught in flames.

Zephyr watched the blaze slowly disappear into the sunset, and had been helpless to think of another hero’s final journey. As sourly bittersweet those memories were, she was content in her knowledge that they would at least have each other. They all would.

And hugging her family close as they watched the flames be engulfed by the fire that was caught on the edge of her world, she didn’t cry. There was a chorus of restless cries on that horizon, impatient to pick up where their ancestors had left off.

The sun set and then it rose again, and life continued to move on.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly have no idea why I actually wrote this out, except for the fact that I apparently love pain and suffering?? You’re welcome.
> 
> [tumblr](https://stolligaseptember.tumblr.com/)


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